Mike Sawyer’s Blog

Senator Grassley, will you let Trump run the Russia investigation?

From my August 22, 2018 letter to Senator Grassley.

It’s been almost two years since I wrote you about Trump’s statement on the “Access Hollywood” tape. As he was about to meet my niece Arianne Zucker he told Billy Bush, “When you’re a star they’ll let you do it. You can do anything.” I asked you, “Is it true; will you let him do anything?” It’s time for you to give us an answer….

Will you let Trump run the Russia investigation? Will you let him strip security clearances of his critics and potential witnesses in the investigation? Will you let him proceed to a full scale trade war? Will you let him pardon former associates who don’t “rat him out?” And how many of his associates have been added to the government payrolls just to “keep their mouths shut?” You do realize that when Trump tweets things like “I could run the Russia investigation if I wanted to”, he’s not testing to see if you object; he’s paving the way to actually do it because of course

“when you’re a star they’ll let you do anything.”

And weren’t you a leading critic of the Obama administration for stretching the limits of Presidential authority? Tell me, what’s the difference? Right or wrong Obama stretched the limits on behalf of the country. Everything I see here is being done for one person, Donald J Trump.

Half the country thinks he’s mentally unbalanced while the other half thinks he’s some sort of genius. Who can blame them; after all wouldn’t Congress intervene if he were doing something harmful to the country? Sure we hear a few voices in Congress speaking out (more partisan bickering) but no sign anyone in Congress really wants to put him in check.

It’s time you face the fact that checkmate is inevitable.

There are no moves left that can prevent it. Meanwhile Trump himself moves aggressively into more precarious positions which will only hasten the end. With no warning from trusted sources such as you or Fox and Friends, this is going to come as a great shock the half the country, the half with the most guns. The threat of civil insurrection is a real possibility. Fox and Friends is only going to stoke the fire.

It’s up to you to prepare your constituents for what’s going to happen and why it will make sense when it happens.

Frankly, I’m not willing to accept “I can’t” as an answer. It’s true for instance that it is the President’s right to issue pardons, but as I recall it is also the President’s right to appoint Supreme Court Justices and you didn’t say “I can’t stop Obama from appointing the next justice in 2016.” To my astonishment, you threw out the rules of fair play to stop him. As I see it you were instrumental in leading us into this “anything goes” era of politics that has been so effectively embraced by President Trump. I expect you to throw out the rules again if that’s what it takes to put this President in check and underscore for the public how it his misconduct and his misconduct alone that got us here.